Are You There, God? It's me, Tiffany

I think I've already mentioned that I am in a small "bible study" group with the neatest group of moms. We are reading a book, "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World." The chapter that we recently discussed reminded me of a discussion that M and I had long ago. About ten years ago, before M and I had children, we were walking the dog one afternoon. It was a beautiful spring day and Belle, our lab, was so happy that we were taking her on a walk. M said, "I wish we had a tennis ball to throw to Belle." Then I looked up and said, "God, it sure would be nice if we had a tennis ball." We took about ten more steps and guess what... a tennis ball was just lying there in the grass. I said, "Thanks, God!" M said, "Oh yeah - God took a break from world poverty to get you a tennis ball." I said, "Yes he did!" M likes to point out that we were right behind the tennis courts and that's why there was a ball sitting there. I like to believe that God answered my prayer.

Sometimes I feel selfish asking God to "please help me find my keys" or "please drop me a tennis ball" or "Please let me make it to the gas station before my car goes dead." But it's been pointed out to me over the years that God wants that relationship with us. He wants us to come to Him with the small stuff, just like we want our own children to come to us with the big stuff and the small stuff. It's about the relationship. We don't want our own children to be too afraid to come to us with their small, everday concerns. We want them to know that we love them and we want to know what is on their hearts, big or small. And that's how God views us, as well. He wants us to come to HIm, to share our hearts, our concerns about the car running out of gas or how the world as we know it will come to an end if we can't find out keys to make it to our hair appointment. He wants to know our hearts.


So today, as I prayed that the chicken would thaw quickly so that I could get it in the oven before my family melted down, I was reminded that I don't have to be embarrassed or ashamed to ask for a little help with the chicken thawing. I might even go so far as to ask the Lord if He might arrange so that my friend could win the lottery!


Thanking God for always being there!


(On a different note, but along the same lines. My dad teased my mom, "No wonder God never answers my prayers. He's too busy looking for your keys!" Ha! )

When I was posting my pictures from yesterday's post, I ran across a few other pictures that I had taken of my youngest sister's baby's room. These pictures are worth posting.

The window treatments were easy to sew and relatively inexpensive. They are stationery - she has roller shades underneath them that uses daily. If you can sew a straight line, these are for you! They are simply one straight panel sewn with lining (Imagine a pillowcase). I actually left one end open (just like a pillowcase) and put the open end around the board that they are attached to). The ties are simply 3 inch wide satin ribbon. The bows were made separately (nothing fancy, just a bow like you're tying your shoe laces), then attached with a safety pin. Oh - the other great thing about these window treatments is this: since they are for decoration only, you can cheat on the amount of fabric that you use. In other words, if we took the bows off and let the fabric hang, it wouldn't cover the length of the window. So we were able to use less fabric than needed.

I think her whole room turned out darling!

(The other picture is of my older sister's little boy's room - it is a lodge theme and she has all of his cowboy boots arranged in order- from smallest to biggest - on his shelf. It is my FAVORITE thing in her house! I love it!)

Enjoy!

I can't believe I forgot to mention baby Lucy! Isn't she getting big?? She was dressed in "sherbert" in honor of her brother's ice cream birthday! Too sweet! (Landon told his mom, "I wish Lucy had been born a little after my birthday so she wouldn't get all the attention at my birthday party." Bless him!)

I scream! You scream! Ice Cream!

If you are looking for a CUTE birthday party idea, my youngest sister just had the cutest ever birthday party for her 6 year old son............an Ice Cream Party!

Mainly the kids just played in the yard (that's my kind of party, if I'm the hostess...no arranged activities!). However, she did have a few activities planned: Pin the Cherry on the Sundae (too cute...sorry, no pictures), and "Find the Cherry." Each child was given a paper plate with a cherry on it. She sprayed Whipped Cream on the plate and the kids had to find the cherry without using their hands! Too cute ! (See photos above!) They LOVED this. She served ice cream and let the children add their own sprinkles and toppings, and the cupcakes were baked in ice cream cones (again, no pics...sorry). But my favorite part of the whole party was the favors. They are sugar cones with Double Bubble bubble gum in them (see photos!). She put the gum in smaller cellophane bags and placed the bag inside of the cone, then put the cone and gum in a separate cellophane bag tied with a cute ribbon.

(And i had to add the cute picture of Mimi that Sunshine took, as well as the picture of Sunshine and my brother -her uncle- hugging on each other because, well...how could I not?!)

Hope you get some ideas from this!

Have a great day.

Thanking God today for family and birthdays! Happy Birthday, Landon!

I have made some really fun purchases lately and wanted to share them with you! I recently read that if you have a blog, you should stick to one "theme." Oh well - that's not going to happen here. So if you don't want to see my purchases, come on back tomorrow and I'm sure I'll have a funny kiddo story!



The first picture is of the old scrubboard collection I have in my laundry room. I like to collect inexpensive things that I have to hunt for - so I decided that anytime I found an old washboard at a yard sale, thrift store, or flea market, I'd buy it if it cost under $3.00! And this past weekend I was able to add to my collection.



The second picture is of this bottle that I found at the thrift store for $2.49!! I was so excited!! I bought three of them last year at Scott's for at least $25 each. They may have been more - I can't remember. But I do remember wondering if they were worth it. Anyway...I added the new bottle to my collection. Right now they are all on top of the refrigerator in my laundy room, but I'm thinking that they need a new home! (BTW, I have no idea what these bottles were for - I'm assuming they were wine jugs. Does anybody know?)



And just for fun, I added a picture of a lamp in Li'l Man's room that is made out of one of those bottles. I found this one at a flea market in Alex City for about $12! Score!



Oh - I almost forgot - I'm opening a booth at Angel's Antiques. It opens Sunday, March 1st!

Weekend FUN!

I am just "in my element" when I'm surrounded by family, old friends, yard sales, and thrift stores!

This past weekend M and I had dinner with my BFF from college and her husband at one of my all-time favorite restaurants. We dropped our children off at my parents on the way into town and met up with Jeff and Ann a little after 7. Ann and I were trying to remember if we had seen each other this past summer and finally decided that it had been the previous summer since we had last seen each other!! Yikes! We can't wait that long next time!

Have you ever had a friend that you just wanted to share with everyone so that everyone else would feel as blessed as you do?? to everyone you know?? Well that's my Ann! She's so sweet, so fun, such a great friend, wife, and mom, and I'm so proud that she's my BFF! We met about 18 years ago when we were both waiting tables in Tuscaloosa at Storyville. I guess you could say we bonded over salads, chicken fingers, fried cheese, and Chocolate Mess! We spent too many nights playing pool and shooting darts at Jackie's (does anybody out there remember Jackie's Lounge in Tuscaloosa??). She knows more "dirt" on me ...and she still wants to be my friend!

We have been through graduations, boyfriend break-ups (then getting back together and breaking up again), weddings, pregnancies, and babies! I am so thankful for such a rich, meaningful friendship!

I'll post more about the rest of the weekend later. Can't wait to share with you about my nephew's B'day party and the cutest party favors ever (see pics above)! And my really awesome yard sale and thrift store finds! But right now I'm thanking God for good friends, old and new!

On Second Thought...

I felt guilty about my last post, so here's a picture of KitKat acting like the Princess that she is can be.

I was actually going to end this post here, but remembered a conversation from earlier today that I thought I'd share with you. She told me that I was the best mom ever, and I told her, "You're the best 5 year old!" She yelled at Sunshine earlier in the day, "I don't even like you!", so I took this opportunity to tell her, "KitKat, mommy just wants you to be sweet." She replied, "One day I was sweet all day. I don't even know how I got into all that sweetness. I'll have to think about it and try it again. Maybe Auburn was winning a lot." I hope Auburn has a winning season until she's 18!

Sunday afternoons in a college town can be a ton of fun...especially when there's an Auburn/Georgia basketball game! KitKat, AAA, and two of AAA's friends and I tried to be one of the first 1000 fans so that we could all get a pink Breast Cancer Awareness T-shirt. We weren't one of the first 1000, but we still all received a nice blue and orange sunglass holder which can be perfect for holding a ...........tiara (even though she obviously is not acting like a princess!)!

News Flash!!

Stop the Presses!

I have found my laundry room floor!! (Being stuck at home with a sick child for 4 days does have its advantages!)

On the other hand...I can't seem to find my bed!

(I'll never forget complaining to my MIL about my never-ending laundry pile. I said, "You had six children! How did you keep up with the laundry??" She replied calmly, "Well I just put the clothes in the washer and pushed "On." The washing machine did the rest." )

So today I'm thanking God for washing machines, dryers, and four healthy children who can all put away their own clothes!

Ghetto Martha Stewart

I don't know why I have this compulsion to air my "dirty laundry" on my blog...but I do!

Here is a picture of the mirror that I hung on AAA's wall about 3 months ago. Eventually I'm sure I'll get around to scraping the rest of the spray paint off. When I bought the mirror on sale at Kirkland's, I knew that it was the wrong color but the right size. So I bought it with the intention painting the gold frame white. I hung it on her wall for a few months with the gold frame. Eventually the gold frame quit bothering me because I had grown accustomed to it. However, company was coming...and you know what that means. Time to spruce up! So I spray-painted the mirror but never really got around to finishing the job before the company arrived. I should have just left it gold because that sure looks a whole lot worse than a gold frame!

AA had two little friends spend the night the other night. I overheard one of the girls ask AA, "WHO painted your mirror?" She replied, rather sheepishly, "My mom. Doesn't it look so messy?" Well obviously I'm not done! Surely they know that. But maybe not.

Well now I'm inspired to finish it. Maybe I'll post a picture of the finished product by the end of the week. Wait a minute...did I just say "finished project"? I thought that was an oxy moron.

I'm notorious for starting a project - or two or three - and never really finishing them. We'll see.

Time Was On My Side

Sunday morning was a typical Sunday morning around here. We were running late for church and I was rushing the children out of the door. When we finally made it to the car, I looked at the time on the clock and said, "Y'all we are running really late. We have three minutes to get to church, find a parking place, and get inside. I need everyone's help." L'il Man said, with all of the confidence in the world, "Don't worry mom, I'll help." He then took his hands and made pretend binoculars out of them and held them up to his eyes. He focused his eyes on the clock on the dashboard. Confused, I asked, "What are you doing??" He replied confidently, "Whenever I don't look at the clock, the time goes by really fast, but when I look at the clock, it goes by so so slow. I'm just giving us a little more time to get to church." Well how about that!

I can't make this stuff up!

Thanking God today for stopping time and allowing us to get to church on time. Kind of reminds me of the time He fed a crowd of 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. (Remind me to tell you about the time He threw me a tennis ball!)

This Bud's For You

This morning, M was shaving and I walked in the bathroom. He had a funny look on his face and asked, "Why is there a Budweiser on the bathtub?" I explained to him that after the ordeal with KitKat trying to take her medicine, I needed something to take the edge off, so I had a bubblebath with a Budweiser! (I know this makes my mom really proud...there was no wine, champagne, or even a BudLight. So I took what I could get!)

(FYI, there was a repeat performance of yesterday's post last night at 1 a.m. You know...medicine, gagging, suppositories, crying, pleading, yelling).

Have a great day!

Sick and Tired

God gave me KitKat to keep me humble, because I was well on my way to writing a book on "How to be the Perfect Parent." My first two children are naturally obedient and eager to please. Their number one goals in life are to please Jesus (well, at least that's AA's) and to please their mom and dad. No joke. So you can imagine how great I thought I was at parenting. I thought that they were this way because I had raised them to be this way. I looked down on parents whose children didn't listen, talked back, didn't eat healthy foods, or didn't take their medicine.

Then God gave me Kit Kat.

And the rest is history.

I have been on my knees ever since - every day, sometimes twice a day, and occasionally...all day!

I adore that child, but she is tough! Most days I feel like I'm in uncharted territory. Her will is strong, her personality is strong, her demeanor is demanding! And I am totally lost!

Today is a perfect example. She ran a 103 degree fever most of the day. Dog gone it! That meant I needed to give her medicine! No!! Help!! I paged M. He didn't call back. KitKat slept most of the afternoon. I paged M again. Thank goodness he called back. "Get home, please. KitKat needs medicine and it will be a two-man operation." He came home. He said, "KitKat, it's time to take your medicine." I laughed to myself because I knew what was coming. "NO! I'm not taking that medicine." He has met his match! But she has met hers! She gagged as she tasted the pink bubblegum flavored medicine. 30 seconds later her head was in the toilet. So M crushed up a grape tablet in the apple juice and handed it to KitKat. She refused to drink it. M lost his patience and said, "Get on the bed. You're getting a suppository." She looked at me with the fear in her eyes. M said, "Come on." KitKat screamed, and I hate to admit it, but I was on the verge of dying laughing! In a last ditch effort to get her to take her medicine orally, I pleaded with her, "Kat, drink this right now so you won't have to put your medicine in your bottom." "I'll drink it - I'll drink it!", she sobbed. So she sat on the edge of the tub. I sat next to her. And M got comfortable (see photo above). She wasn't going anywhere til she drank that medicine. So we sat. And she sipped. And sipped. And sipped. And sipped . Finally, she was towards the bottom of the cup, where the majority of the medicine was concentrated. Then she started gagging (of course)! Then she ran to the toilet and threw it all up. The drama! The hurling! The noise! The coughing!

M said to her while her head was in the toilet, "When you're finished, I'm giving you a suppository." She replied, "Can you bring me a chair in here? It's gonna take a long time."

Me? What was I doing? Trying not to laugh but not succeeding! (oh yeah, and I took a picture).

So we brought out the suppositories. 45 minutes later, we were done.

I'm beat! M left for a meeting. And KitKat is no longer running a fever to she's running around like a wild Indian. I think I liked it better when she had a fever (Did I really just write that!?!?)

(I had to take a break from typing this so that I could feed the kids. This is what I walk into: KitKat says,"Mom, they don't believe me that I had to take my medicine in my crack." AAA and L'il Man asked simultaneously, "Did she really?" I replied, "She really did." Then KitKat added, just for kicks, "Dad had to stick his finger in my bootie." Y'all I swear I try to keep this G-rated, but my kids won't let me!)

Now We're Talkin'!

It just doesn't get any better than this!

Warning - Adult Content (eventhough my kids said it!)

The other day AAA started telling me a story, "Mom, today I hit Scott in the balls on the playground..." and she continues. When she finally finishes her story, I said, "I can't believe you just told me that story." "What??" she asks innocently. I replied, "Now tell me the story again." She continued, "Today on the playground I hit Scott with the balls..." "Oooh," I say. "What?", she asked. Then she gets it, "Mooommmm. .. I know what you think I said. You're so gross!" We laugh and that's the end of it...at least for an hour. Later we were in the car. AAA was in the very back row and she yells to me in the front, "Mom, does Will know?" I reply, "Does he know what?" She says again, "You know. " Then she whispers as loud as she can (!), "That he has balls." Will perks up and replies, nonchalantly, "Of course I know I have balls!" AAA then asks, innocently, "What are they for anyway?" Will replies, "For collecting your pee!"

It's a laugh a minute around here!

Quick funny

Tonight we were eating at Laredo's (Mexican restaurant). Kit Kat leans over to ask me, "Why do all the workers here look like Chinese people?" Love it!

Our "trip" to the dentist office

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this a couple of weeks ago ...I thought it was so funny at the time. I think I mentioned in a previous post that the children all had their teeth cleaned about three weeks ago. But I probably didn't mention that L'il Man had a cavity so we had to return to the dentist office a week later to have his cavity filled. After his visit, he came to the waiting room and said, "Mom, they didn't give me a filling. I replied, "Yes they did, buddy." He argued, "No they didn't. I just opened my mouth real quick and they looked in it and that was all.' I said, "Buddy, they gave you some gas in that mask they put on your face and it makes you forget stuff." He tilted his head to the side, looked me in the eye, and said, "What was in that stuff? They put that over my nose and I felt like I was doing the back stroke but my body wasn't moving!" Ha! I love it!

Have a great day!

Thanking God today for kids and laughter!

Cute Clips (if I do say so myself!)

One day I might have an original idea...but it won't be today.

I saw these covered clips on a blog several weeks ago. The ones I saw were covered in scrapbook paper, but I thought I'd try covering them in fabric. Turned out kind of cute.

This week is Teacher Appreciation at my children's school. I'm in charge of afternoon snacks tomorrow and thought it would be cute to serve the snacks (brownies) in little bags with a matching clip. So the teacher not only gets a snack, but she also receives a useful binder clip. I know, I know...obviously I have too much time on my hands. Actually, that's not true. I actually enjoy doing time-consuming, mindless "projects". It's my idea of fun. How sad.

So this is what you need:
binder clips from Office depot (BOGO this week)
spray glue
fabric
No-fray

Instructions:
1. Cut fabric to fit clip
2. Put No-fray on fabric edges and let dry
3. Spray backside of fabric with spray glue. Wait about 30 seconds
4. Adhere fabric to clip.
5. Tah-Dah!

Time consuming? Yes. Worth it? It's up to you.

Have a great day!

Oops!

The other day I said a "bad word" in the car in front of my four children. A college student (I am sure!) pulled out in front of me and I slammed on breaks to keep from wrecking the new Mini-Van. It was a four letter word. As soon as I said it, I said to the children, "Mommy just said a very bad word and I'm very sorry. I shouldn't have said it and I never want you to say it." L'il Man replied, "I know one bad word, the "F" word." Gulp. Hoping that it was the "F" word that means the same as "toot", but bracing myself to hear something much worse, I asked, "What is the "F" word?" He replied, "Stupid." Oh Thank God. You see, L'il Man also has a hard time saying his "s" sounds, so apparently he had said, "I know one bad word, the "S" word." Unfortunately, I think I may have taught him a new "S" word.

Thankin' God today for sweet innocence!

Cwushes!

Today I picked up my L'il Man and his friend from school. They are both 7 years old. L'il Man says, "Mom, Anna has a crush on somebody." Lil Man's friend says, "I think it's on me!" I asked, "How do you know?" He said, "Because she always smiles at me." L'il Man says to his friend, "Dude, I know. And when she stares at you and smiles...it's scary." The funniest part of the whole conversation was that L'il Man wasn't trying to be funny. He really gets scared when Anna stares at him and smiles! Ha! And the cutest part of the story is hearing my L'il Man say "scary." He has a hard time saying the "r" sound, so it sounded more like this, "Dude, I know. And when she stares at you and smiles, it's scawee." Love it!

Thankin' God today for this pweshus little man!

Make Your Cupcakes Pop!

If you think these are as cute as I do, visit http://www.bakerella.blogspot.com/. She has LOTS of cute ideas. These pops are from April 2008 - scroll down to bottom of page. And if you have a puppy party planned any time in the near future, check out her puppy pops! To die for! Have fun!

You're gonna have fun whether you like it or not!

The reason that Sunshine is asleep in the middle of the floor at the hotel is because she passed out from sheer stress and exhaustion after having spent an hour in the same room as Cinderella's stepmother!

When M and I decided a few months ago that I would take the youngest two girls to Walt Disney World while he stayed home with the older two, Sunshine seemed to be genuinely upset at the idea of going to Disney World. We finally realized that it was because she was terrified that she might either see pirates or Cinderella's stepmother. I convinced her that we would not have any contact with pirates and assured her that we would not see Cinderella's stepmother. Then I made dinner reservations for us to eat with Cinderella and Prince Charming one night. We were just about to be seated when the host told us that he had a special guest for us that night...Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters!! Sunshine ran as fast as she could out of there! I chased her to the lobby of the hotel while at the same time looking back at the host and yelling, "We'll be O.kay. I'll be right back." Sunshine was crying and begging me not to take her into the restaurant. I assured her that it would be O.Kay and the stepmother would NOT come to our table. We went back inside the restaurant. Sunshine basically sat in my lap the whole time. I asked our server to please tell the stepmother and stepsisters to please skip our table, but apparently they didn't get the memo. Each of them made their way to our table and tried to get the girls to have their pictures taken with them. Sunshine didn't speak because she was so scared. Of course KitKat looked straight at the evil stepmother and said, "I'm not gonna have my picture taken with you 'cause you don't look cute!" Even I was was scared of the evil stepmother after that! Finally, we finished our dinner and left the restaurant. Within minutes, Sunshine was passed out! Bless her little heart. What kind of mommy am I ? I ought to be ashamed for making her eat dinner with the mean ole step-monster!

Wishin' and Hopin' and Prayin'

This is THE FIRST chance I've had to sit down and blog since our return from Disney, which was a complete blast! I took my two youngest children, KitKat and Sunshine, and my mom. My youngest sister also stayed with us, along with her 5 year old boy and 2 1/2 month old baby girl (who slept through the night!! Thank you, Lucy!). My other younger sister was there for part of the time with her 5 year old boy. The time together was priceless! We laughed about "nothing" the entire time!

KitKAt made a wish the first night that we were there at the "Dreams Come True" fireworks celebration. I begged her to tell me what her wish was. She was tight-lipped until I told her that it was O.Kay for little girls to tell their mommies. Major mistake. Of course her wish was impossible. And then she blamed me for her wish not coming true. So the next night she said, "I want to stay and make another wish since you ruined my life and made me tell you my other wish and it didn't come true." She's five years old! What will it be like when she's fifteen years old. I'm so scared! She has a very strong will and I'm not ashamed to tell you that her will IS stronger than mine! I've never been strong-willed. I don't even want to be strong-willed. But I know I better start! That girl is going to exhaust me! I love her to death, but boy howdy, she's one strong-willed little girl! I better get ready for a wild ride!

I'll post more pics later, but just wanted to say "Hello"

Thanking God today for that strong-willed little girl who will keep me on my knees!